Between all this bickering over who's peniphone is the largest best, it's always nice to be able to post a positive story, a story which shows that for every abusive company, there's one that shows the world just how it's done. This time, it's Bose. Founder and primary stockholder of Bose, Amar G. Bose, has donated a large number of non-voting shares of the company to MIT, where he spent his university career. Dividends over these shares will be paid each year to MIT, which will use it for research and educational purposes.

The gear I buy is actually cheaper than Bose, and outperforms it in almost every way. In fact, this is the experience of almost everybody who has cared to legitimately test Bose against its competition. Laughing might not be an appropriate reaction, but they would be wise to warn the OP against Bose.

Some of the people in audio forums have expensive gear, and some (like me) don't. Regardless, they do (on average) know what they're talking about. It would behoove you (and the OP) to listen to people who have expertise in a field, rather than scorning them and implying they're all elitists.